


it took a rumor (to make me wonder)

by perfectlyrose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (they think it's ~platonic bed sharing but PLOT TWIST), Domestic Fluff, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Voltron: Legendary Defender Season/Series 08 Compliant, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Post-Canon, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22093564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: “We’re not dating.” Shiro says slowly.Lance stares at him. “This is possibly the worst way to break the news that you two eloped.”Shiro’s whole face flames red and he hurriedly shuts the door on all thoughts of how a ring would look on Keith’s finger. He can’t consider that and stay sane right now.“Keith and I aren’t actually together,” he says. “At all. We’re friends.”Shiro is pining for his best friend, treasuring the precious moments when they wake up together after sharing a bed. He's positive that his feelings are unreturned until Lance unintentionally brings Coalition-wide rumors about Shiro and Keith to his attention.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 99
Kudos: 612





	it took a rumor (to make me wonder)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hymnaria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hymnaria/gifts).



> for Becky for the W&G holiday exchange! I tried to work as many of your wants into this as I could! I hope you enjoy!!
> 
> Thanks to [elliott](https://twitter.com/zombietime_) for the beta!

It’s certainly not the first time Shiro has woken up all tangled with Keith in one bed or another. It seems to happen with astonishing regularity these days. This morning Keith is half sprawled on Shiro’s chest, arm snug around his waist and a leg thrown over one of Shiro’s. They’re in Shiro’s bed and Keith’s hair is tickling Shiro’s nose and Shiro’s entire soul thrums with joy.

He leans down and nuzzles the top of Keith’s head, inhaling the fading scent of Keith’s shampoo and the underlying musk of the man in his arms. Despite how regularly they fall asleep together, these moments are all too fleeting. Soon, Keith with wake and roll away from him, sometimes with a muttered apology, like he’s worried that he crossed a line by cuddling Shiro in his sleep. 

Shiro tightens his one-armed grip on Keith and dares to press a kiss into his hair. He  _ wants _ Keith to cross that line, wants Keith to want him the same way Shiro wants Keith. Shiro yearns for the slightest of touch from Keith and these moments when they’re pressed together soothes him even as it widens the yawning ache in the middle of his chest.

He feels Keith stiffen for a fraction of a second before relaxing and braces himself for Keith moving back to what Shiro considers Keith’s side of the bed these days. Keith stays for a moment, inhaling deeply and then releasing a warm breath that seeps through Shiro’s shirt, right over his heart.

“Good morning,” Keith rasps out as he pulls away, leaving Shiro’s side cold. His expression is carefully blank in a way that worries Shiro.

“Morning,” Shiro returns. “You want the first shower while I get coffee going?”

Keith’s whole face softens and he gifts Shiro a small, sleepy smile. “Sounds perfect, Shiro.”

Shiro lingers for a breath more and then forces himself to roll over and vacate the bed. He stretches luxuriously before tugging the hem of his tanktop back down to meet the waistband of his sweatpants.

Keith’s sitting up on the bed when Shiro glances over, limbs still sleep-heavy and face flushed. Shiro activates his prosthetic with a thought, directing it over to ruffle Keith’s already mussed hair. “Shower’s the same place as always,” he ribs as Keith tries to duck out from under his hand, “and last I checked, it’s not in the bed.”

Keith manages to grab onto Shiro’s metal wrist with both of his hands. “Quit it,” he growls, but his glare is more than half pout and fully devoid of venom.

Shiro just grins and tugs Keith to his feet. “Up and at ‘em, Kogane. Full day ahead of us.”

Keith grumbles as he heads towards the bathroom with exaggerated reluctance. Shiro watches for just a second before turning and heading towards the kitchenette to make coffee.

He has Keith’s coffee ready when Keith gets out of the shower. He hands the lightly sweetened coffee in a rocketship-shaped mug to his friend and watches him roll his eyes, basking in the fondness of his expression.

Keith can roll his eyes at the mug all he wants, but he’s the one who found it in the back of Shiro’s cabinet months ago and immediately claimed it. He uses it even when he’s the one making coffee. 

“Use all my hot water?”

Keith snorts before taking a long sip of the coffee. “Like Atlas wouldn’t reroute you some even if I did.”

Shiro arches an eyebrow and drains the last of his coffee. He sets the mug in the sink with a gentle clink. “I would never abuse my power like that.”

“Yeah, you’d never steal the hot water from a hardworking crewmember,” Keith deadpans. “Not even Stevens, I’m sure.”

Shiro’s lip curls at the mention of the lieutenant who’d frayed Shiro’s temper almost to the breaking point the prior day with his poor decisions and inability to keep his mouth shut when he really needed to.

“Maybe just a little bit of his hot water,” Shiro allows.

Keith chuckles into his mug, damp hair falling over his eyebrows. His hair is still dripping in the back and there’s a towel slung over his shoulders. He’s wearing an old t-shirt of Shiro’s and he hums with his eyes closed as he savors another sip of coffee. He’s beautiful like this; soft in ways that Shiro feels honored to witness. 

He opens his eyes and pins Shiro in place with a look. “Go get in the shower, Captain. You’ve got a meeting in half an hour.”

Shiro pouts. It’s really something he only allows himself to do around Keith; he’s not comfortable enough around most others really. Plus it never fails to make Keith huff out a laugh against his will.

The fact that being a little dramatic will distract him from the fact that Keith calling him by his rank in his morning rasp sends sparks of heat tumbling through his veins is completely irrelevant.

“Big baby,” Keith mutters.

Shiro grins and then heads off down the hallway to do as he was told.

When he emerges from the shower, dressed in his uniform with its restricting fabric and pressed lines, Keith is gone.

Both of their mugs and the coffee pot itself are clean and set neatly on the drying rack.

This is the usual way of things, but Shiro again can’t help but wish that Keith was still lingering.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The meeting is only made bearable by the presence of more coffee, a selection of nearly fresh bagels, and Keith across the table from him.

Mostly Keith.

He sends Shiro messages on the datapads, eviscerating the Tygian who is video calling into the meeting and monopolizing it with their trivial concerns over the type of fruit being delivered in aid packages. Shiro barely keeps a straight face as Keith compares the alien to a talking yak.

They finally escape when Shiro extracts a confirmation that the fruits already en route are not harmful to the Tygians, just not the preferred variety. The ambassador stays tightlipped over if it’s only their personal preference or one shared by their people.

By the time the meeting winds to an end, Shiro is ready to crawl back into bed, preferably with Keith if he can swing it. But that’s an impossibility with a long day of meetings still ahead of him. Keith offers a wan smile before slipping out of the room, holding up his comm to let Shiro know he’s needed elsewhere.

If Shiro’s lucky it’s not the Blades calling to whisk Keith off to who knows where on a mission that will last a few days.

He’s musing over that possibility and preemptively mourning a few days without even a glimpse of Keith, much less waking up with him, when Lance sidles up next to him in the hallway.

“So,” Lance starts, gently elbowing Shiro. He almost misses the days when Lance was too in awe of him to do this. “Saw Mullet leaving your room this morning. You two finally…” he trails off in favor of making some questionable eyebrow movements.

“We’re not like that, Lance,” Shiro says, trying for firm and hoping that’s where his tone lands. No use in letting his disappointment or longing seep into the statement.

“Really? Thought Keith at least would be moving faster with all the looks he’s been giving you since forever, but whatever.” Lance flaps his hand. “Nothing wrong with taking things slow, even if the two of you are practically glacial at this point. Pidge is going to be disappointed, she thought she’d won the bet this morning.”

“Lance,” Shiro cuts him off before he can upend anymore of Shiro’s worldview. “Does everyone think Keith and I are...together?”

Lance’s eyebrows skyrocket. “Um,  _ yeah _ . Have you  _ seen _ the two of you? You’re like, the Coalition’s power couple. It’s weirdly sweet and kinda inspiring and you can’t ever tell Keith I said that.”

Shiro blinks, trying to assimilate this new information. He wonders if Keith knows and his heart trips over itself. He wants to pretend so badly, wants to be able to say that Keith is his and he is Keith’s without it being a lie. They belong to, belong with each other, yes, but not in the way people apparently think.

“We’re not dating.” Shiro says slowly.

Lance stares at him. “This is possibly the worst way to break the news that you two eloped.”

Shiro’s whole face flames red and he hurriedly shuts the door on all thoughts of how a ring would look on Keith’s finger. He can’t consider that and stay sane right now.

“Keith and I aren’t actually together,” he says. “At all. We’re friends.”

The word is inadequate coming out of his mouth and Shiro winces with it.

“You’re joking.”

Shiro’s heart clenches in his chest and he shakes his head. Speaking would give him away if he tried.

“Shit.” Lance covers the whole bottom part of his face with a hand, staring up at Shiro. “What, no, why, no,  _ how _ ?”

“How what?”

“How have the two of you  _ not _ gotten a clue yet?” Lance demands. “You act more like a married couple than half the actual married and dating couples on this ship. I have  _ seen _ with my own two eyes the looks you give each other and Allura has sworn she can’t magically bleach them from my brain.”

“Lance—”

“Nope, not done,” Lance continues. “The two of you are practically attached at the hip. He  _ slept in your quarters _ ,” he hisses. “That’s a big fucking deal. Maybe you don’t remember since it doesn’t seem to apply to you, but Keith doesn’t sleep near others. He’d take the entire night watch in space because he wouldn’t sleep anyways. He had a single dorm as a cadet.”

“I already know he trusts me,” Shiro says, the words twisting through him. He’s never quite sure he deserves Keith’s trust after everything.

“He’s in love with you,” Lance counters.

Shiro feels his brain stop. His mouth keeps going without his permission. “No he isn’t.”

“Buddy,” Lance says, pity dripping off the word. “He has been pining after you for actual years.”

Shiro shakes his head mutely. Keith is his best friend, there’s no way he’s missed something this big. He’s been  _ looking _ for signs that Keith returns his feelings.

Lance huffs and looks around the hallways. “Hey, you there!” he hollers at a passing lieutenant. “Thoughts on our Captain here and the Black Paladin?”

The lieutenant’s gaze hops between Lance and Shiro nervously, biting their lower lip. “Um, well they’re an inspiration to my girlfriend and I, being a couple who works together and are still so in love.”

“Okay, thank you,” Lance says. He turns back to Shiro. “See?”

“I don’t… I would’ve noticed?” Shiro manages.

“You know, I could list all the reasons the pair of you are idiots about all this but I don’t want to,” Lance says, crossing his arms. “Go talk to your boyfriend about it. Where is he anyways?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Shiro protests weakly. “And he got a call. I’m assuming the Blades need him for something.”

“No time to waste, then. Go find him before he leaves the ship and  _ make  _ him your boyfriend.”

“But what if you’re wrong?”

“I’m not.  _ Go. _ ”

Shiro does, more to escape the conversation than any desire to listen to Lance’s instructions. His head is spinning as he tries to run through all of their interactions to spot what everyone else is seeing. He’s been looking for  _ changes _ in Keith’s behavior to indicate that he feels the same way that Shiro does, but if Keith’s been feeling this way all along…

Shiro swallows hard. Maybe...maybe he isn’t alone in feeling this.

Maybe Keith maintains that last bit of distance when they wake up together by rolling away, by leaving while Shiro’s in the shower, because he’s trying to protect himself. Because he thinks that Shiro doesn’t love him back.

The thought hits Shiro in the gut, a suckerpunch the likes of which can only be delivered by the truth. It’s followed closely by the need to make sure Keith knows beyond a doubt that he is loved, that Shiro is in love with him. Atlas nudges him towards the small hangar where Keith keeps his flyer. He takes off towards the hangar at a run, not sparing a thought to the fact that crewmembers tend to panic when the captain of the vessel sprints through the hallways without any alarms sounding.

His brain is just a chorus of  _ Keith Keith Keith _ . He has to find him before he takes off.

Shiro skids to a stop in front of Keith’s ship. It’s still sitting lifeless and he has a moment to wonder if Atlas sent him in the wrong direction before the doors behind him slide open.

Keith’s laugh ripples through the space, warm and low. “You didn’t have to come see me off,” he teases. He’s dressed in his Blades suit, hood pulled up over his head but mask not yet activated. “I’ll only be gone for a day and a half if everything goes to plan.”

“But when does it ever go to plan?” Shiro asks. He’s doing a good job of pretending that his heart isn’t pounding and his palm isn’t sweating. He didn’t think this through at all.

Keith steps into Shiro’s space looking up at him with a searching expression. “What’s going on, Shiro?”

Because Shiro’s looking for it, he sees the way Keith’s hand twitches like he wants to reach out to him.

Shiro holds his breath as he reaches out with his left hand and captures Keith’s hand in his, tangling their fingers together.

Keith gasps and glances down at their joined hands before his eyes dart back up. “Shiro?”

The cautious hope sparking in Keith’s eyes spurs him on. “So, I was told something earlier,” Shiro starts. He laughs nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand “Apparently I’ve been something of an idiot. I usually am when it comes to these things but I was hoping I’d outgrown it somehow.”

“Shiro, you’re rambling,” Keith cuts in. “And you’re making me nervous.”

“I love you,” Shiro blurts out.

Keith blinks at him, shocked.

“I’m in love with you,” Shiro continues, wanting there to be no confusion. He has a death grip on Keith’s hand.

“Shiro…” There’s a tremble to Keith’s voice and a sheen in his eyes.

“I don’t expect anything,” Shiro rushes to say, pit opening in his stomach. “I don’t want to ruin anything, but I needed you to know. Apparently everyone thinks we’re already dating and it made me hope that maybe you…” he trails off, the lump in his throat choking off any further words.

“You’re an asshole for telling me this when I have to leave in ten minutes,” Keith says. His voice is thick with tears but the smile blooming on his face is the most beautiful thing Shiro’s ever seen. “I love you too, Shiro. I’ve always loved you. I just never thought…”

“I love you,” Shiro repeats, because Keith deserves to hear it, because it’s true and he’s been holding it in for so long.

Keith surges up and presses his lips to Shiro’s. Shiro kisses him back with the same fervor, trying to pour all of his love and adoration and devotion into this simple press of lips.

Keith pulls back just enough to rest his forehead against Shiro’s. “I love you. I also hate that I can’t drag you back to your room to kiss you properly right now.”

“My room and not yours?”

“Yours is nicer,” Keith insists, bumping his nose against Shiro’s.

“Can I not get properly kissed here?” Shiro asks.

“I have to leave in like five minutes and I haven’t even started pre-flight checks.”

“Do you have to go?”

“I wish I didn’t, but I already promised. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Keith kisses him again. “I think I’m pretty motivated to wrap this mission up quickly.”

Shiro kisses Keith until Keith’s comm starts beeping, informing him that he should already be taking off. They part reluctantly.

Shiro squeezes his hip. “I don’t sleep as well without you,” he admits. “Come home soon.”

“I will,” Keith promises. Shiro knows he will; Keith has never broken a promise to him.

“I’ll be waiting.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/LionessNapping)!


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